Cleansing of the Levites

⁵ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶ “Take the Levites from among the people of Israel and cleanse them. ⁷ Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the ^(A)water of purification upon them, and ^(B)let them go with a razor over all their body, and wash their clothes and cleanse themselves. ⁸ Then let them take a bull from the herd and ^(C)its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, ^(D)and you shall take another bull from the herd for a sin offering. ^9 (E)And you shall bring the Levites before the tent of meeting ^(F)and assemble the whole congregation of the people of Israel. ¹⁰ When you bring the Levites before the Lord, the people of Israel ^(G)shall lay their hands on the Levites, ¹¹ and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the people of Israel, that they may do the service of the Lord. ¹² Then the Levites ^(H)shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer ^(I)the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the Lord to make atonement for the Levites. ¹³ And you shall set the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and shall offer them as ^(J)a wave offering to the Lord.

¹⁴ “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the people of Israel, and ^(K)the Levites shall be mine. ¹⁵ And after that the Levites shall go in to serve at the tent of meeting, when you have cleansed them and offered them as a ^(L)wave offering. ¹⁶ For they are ^(M)wholly given to me from among the people of Israel. ^(N)Instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the people of Israel, I have taken them for myself. ^17 (O)For all the firstborn among the people of Israel are mine, both of man and of beast. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I consecrated them for myself, ¹⁸ and I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel. ^19 (P)And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the people of Israel, to do the service for the people of Israel at the tent of meeting and ^(Q)to make atonement for the people of Israel, ^(R)that there may be no plague among the people of Israel when the people of Israel come near the sanctuary.”

²⁰ Thus did Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the people of Israel to the Levites. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, the people of Israel did to them. ²¹ And ^(S)the Levites purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes, and ^(T)Aaron offered them as a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. ²² And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons; as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

Retirement of the Levites

²³ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “This applies to the Levites: ^(U)from twenty-five years old and upward they^[a] shall come to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting. ²⁵ And from the age of fifty years they shall withdraw from the duty of the service and serve no more. ²⁶ They minister^[b] to their brothers in the tent of meeting ^(V)by keeping guard, but they shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites in assigning their duties.”

¹⁵ Zebadiah, Arad, Eder, ¹⁶ Michael, Ishpah, and Joha were sons of Beriah. ¹⁷ Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber, ¹⁸ Ishmerai, Izliah, and Jobab were the sons of Elpaal. ¹⁹ Jakim, Zichri, Zabdi, ²⁰ Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel, ²¹ Adaiah, Beraiah, and Shimrath were the sons of Shimei. ²² Ishpan, Eber, Eliel, ²³ Abdon, Zichri, Hanan, ²⁴ Hananiah, Elam, Anthothijah, ²⁵ Iphdeiah, and Penuel were the sons of Shashak. ²⁶ Shamsherai, Shehariah, Athaliah, ²⁷ Jaareshiah, Elijah, and Zichri were the sons of Jeroham. ²⁸ These were the heads of fathers' houses, according to their generations, chief men. These lived in Jerusalem.

^29 (A)(B)Jeiel^[a] the father of Gibeon lived in Gibeon, and the name of his wife was Maacah. ³⁰ His firstborn son: Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab, ³¹ Gedor, Ahio, Zecher, ³² and Mikloth (he fathered Shimeah). Now these also lived opposite their kinsmen in Jerusalem, with their kinsmen. ^33 (C)Ner was the father of Kish, Kish of Saul, Saul of ^(D)Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab and Eshbaal; ³⁴ and the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal; and Merib-baal was the father of ^(E)Micah. ³⁵ The sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Tarea, and Ahaz. ³⁶ Ahaz fathered Jehoaddah, and Jehoaddah fathered Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri. Zimri fathered Moza. ³⁷ Moza fathered Binea; Raphah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son. ³⁸ Azel had six sons, and these are their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel. ³⁹ The sons of Eshek his brother: Ulam his firstborn, Jeush the second, and Eliphelet the third. ⁴⁰ The sons of Ulam were men who were mighty warriors, bowmen, having many sons and grandsons, 150. All these were Benjaminites.

A Genealogy of the Returned Exiles

9 So all Israel was recorded in genealogies, and these are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And ^(F)Judah was taken into exile in Babylon because of their breach of faith. ^2 (G)Now the first to ^(H)dwell again in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the ^(I)temple servants.

Prophecy to the Mountains of Israel

36 “And you, ^(A)son of man, prophesy to ^(B)the mountains of Israel, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. ² Thus says the Lord God: Because ^(C)the enemy said of you, ^(D)‘Aha!’ and, ‘The ancient ^(E)heights have become our possession,’ ³ therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God: Precisely because ^(F)they made you desolate and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and ^(G)you became the talk and evil gossip of the people, ⁴ therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God to ^(H)the mountains and the hills, the ravines and the valleys, ^(I)the desolate wastes and the deserted cities, which have become ^(J)a prey and derision to the rest of the nations all around, ⁵ therefore thus says the Lord God: Surely I have spoken in ^(K)my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and ^(L)against all Edom, who ^(M)gave my land to themselves as a possession ^(N)with wholehearted joy and ^(O)utter contempt, that they might make its pasturelands a prey. ⁶ Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to ^(P)the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, Thus says the Lord God: ^(Q)Behold, I have spoken in my jealous wrath, because you have suffered ^(R)the reproach of the nations. ⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^(S)I swear that the nations that are all around you ^(T)shall themselves suffer reproach.

⁸ “But you, O mountains of Israel, ^(U)shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for ^(V)they will soon come home. ⁹ For ^(W)behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and ^(X)you shall be tilled and sown. ¹⁰ And ^(Y)I will multiply people on you, the whole house of Israel, all of it. ^(Z)The cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt. ¹¹ And I will multiply on you ^(AA)man and beast, and ^(AB)they shall multiply and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as in ^(AC)your former times, and ^(AD)will do more good to you than ever before. ^(AE)Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹² I will let people walk on you, even my people Israel. ^(AF)And they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no longer ^(AG)bereave them of children. ¹³ Thus says the Lord God: Because they say to you, ^(AH)‘You devour people, and you bereave your nation of children,’ ¹⁴ therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Lord God. ¹⁵ And I will not let you hear anymore ^(AI)the reproach of the nations, and you shall no longer bear the disgrace of the peoples and no longer cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord God.”

Let Us Go to the House of the Lord

A Song of ^(A)Ascents. Of David.

Our Eyes Look to the Lord Our God

A Song of ^(M)Ascents.

The Rich Ruler

^18 (A)And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to ^(B)inherit eternal life?” ¹⁹ And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. ²⁰ You know the commandments: ^(C)‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” ²¹ And he said, ^(D)“All these I have kept from my youth.” ²² When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. ^(E)Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have ^(F)treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” ^23 (G)But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. ²⁴ Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, ^(H)“How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter ^(I)the kingdom of God! ²⁵ For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter ^(J)the kingdom of God.” ²⁶ Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁷ But he said, ^(K)“What is impossible with man is possible with God.” ²⁸ And Peter said, “See, ^(L)we have left our homes and followed you.” ²⁹ And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, ^(M)there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers^[a] or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, ³⁰ who will not receive ^(N)many times more ^(O)in this time, and in ^(P)the age to come eternal life.”

²³ For ^(A)the husband is the head of the wife even as ^(B)Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is ^(C)himself its Savior.